Gu Xia, who had been staying in the rented apartment these past few days, was a bit too worried and had a very bad dream at night.
She dreamed that Lu Shaoting kept putting off seeing her.
Later, her belly suddenly grew huge, so big that she looked like a ball and seemed about to float away.
Lu Shaoting suddenly appeared before her and said with disdain and cruelty:
“Gu Xia, do you really think I would agree to help you? You’re dreaming. I, Lu Shaoting, despise being deceived and threatened the most.”
“This outcome is your retribution. Who told you to deceive me? If you don’t want to abort the child, then give birth to it yourself. Let’s see how you’ll raise it after giving birth.”
“An unmarried woman with a big belly—no one at the hospital will even deliver the baby for you.”
Gu Xia suddenly woke up from the dream in fright, covered in cold sweat.
She immediately sat up and turned on a small desk lamp.
After calming down for a long while, Gu Xia drank some water. Looking at the empty surroundings, she felt so scared she wanted to cry.
She missed her parents and her sister.
She lifted her clothes and looked at her flat abdomen.
Thank goodness, thank goodness—it wasn’t like in the dream, where her belly suddenly grew as big as a ball.
She had to think of a way to get Lu Shaoting to contact her and also help arrange jobs for her parents and sister.
Otherwise, what was the point of all the trouble she went through, using herself to scheme against Lu Shaoting?
As soon as day broke, Gu Xia went out to find a telephone and called Lu Shaoting.
She called once, but no one answered.
The early morning in late autumn in Beicheng was truly quite cold, and she was only wearing thin pants and a jacket, so she felt a bit chilly.
She stood outside the phone booth, pacing back and forth a few steps, rubbing her hands together to warm up a bit.
She muttered to herself that it must be because she had gotten up too early—Lu Shaoting hadn’t gone to his workplace yet, so no one answered the call.
When it was almost eight o’clock, she called again, but still no one answered.
Gu Xia was already panicking. She was truly afraid that the nightmare would come true—that Lu Shaoting had rented her an apartment and then disappeared.
How could she have been so foolish? She had actually believed Lu Shaoting’s words and been placated by his sweet talk.
Lu Shaoting had told her to stop making a fuss.
And she had obediently and naively stopped making a fuss.
Even when she first moved in here, she endured it for a week.
It was only after realizing that seven days had passed without Lu Shaoting contacting her or sending her any message that she thought of calling him to ask.
Unexpectedly, the call couldn’t get through.
Gu Xia no longer knew what to do. She could only go to the Lu family home to look for him, just like last time.
The Lu family was clearly on guard against her this time. When she said she was there to see Lu Shaoting, the guard didn’t let her in after registering like last time.
Gu Xia was stopped outside the gate.
It was only when she saw Lu Xiaoyan that Gu Xia immediately stepped forward and called out, “Aunt Lu.”
Lu Xiaoyan had come to deliver something to her parents. Someone had given her some Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs for the Double Ninth Festival, and she had specifically brought them over for her parents.
Lu Xiaoyan also knew that her parents’ household didn’t lack such things, but she was a filial daughter and often brought gifts to honor them.
She had heard that today, one of her father’s old comrades was going to introduce a potential marriage partner to the fourth son.
After Gu Xia had caused a scene at home that day, she was quickly taken away by the fourth son.
Lu Xiaoyan, and even the rest of the Lu family, had assumed that the matter of Gu Xia’s pregnancy had already been properly resolved by the fourth son.
So why was Gu Xia now at the entrance of the Lu family home again?
Lu Xiaoyan frowned as she looked at Gu Xia and asked her:
“Why are you here again? Didn’t Old Fourth say he would handle this matter?”
However, seeing Gu Xia’s face blue from the cold, Lu Xiaoyan felt a pang of sympathy.
“It’s so cold now, why aren’t you wearing more?”
Gu Xia was a very well-behaved child.
Her parents lived in the school staff compound, which was separated from this military family compound by just one street.
Usually, the children from both compounds would play together.
When Lu Xiaoyan returned to her parents’ home, she often ran into Gu Xia and her older sister Gu Mingyuan.
The Gu sisters were beautiful, often called a pair of lovely flowers.
Gu Xia was also cold, but she truly had no extra money to buy clothes.
She just shook her head lightly, not offering any further explanation.
“Auntie, can you take me inside? I want to see Lu Shaoting. He promised me something but didn’t keep his word. I won’t cause trouble, I just want to talk to him.”
Seeing Gu Xia stubbornly clinging to Old Fourth, Lu Xiaoyan, out of concern as an elder, advised her.
“Gu Xia, I don’t know what’s going on between you and Old Fourth, but pestering him like this is useless. He doesn’t like you, and there’s too big an age gap between you.”
“Besides, with my mother’s temper, if I took you inside, she’d tear me apart.”
“And, let me tell you, Old Fourth is having a matchmaking meeting at home today. I advise you to give up.”
“Here’s what I’ll do. I have some money here, take it first, go back home, find your parents. Being together as a family is better than freezing and starving here.”
As she spoke, Lu Xiaoyan took out some money from her bag.
She counted it and handed Gu Xia twenty yuan.
Lu Xiaoyan was quite generous—her monthly salary was only a little over seventy yuan.
Biting her lip, tears fell helplessly.
She didn’t want to cry at all, but Lu Xiaoyan’s small act of kindness moved her deeply.
“Auntie, I don’t want your money. I didn’t come for money. I want to see Lu Shaoting.”
“I won’t go inside. Can you call him out for me?”
“He doesn’t have to help me, but he shouldn’t lie to me. I really listened to him.”
Seeing Gu Xia biting her lip, holding back tears, Lu Xiaoyan felt terrible too. She forced the twenty yuan into Gu Xia’s hand.
Lu Xiaoyan said, “Then wait here. When I go inside and see Old Fourth, I’ll relay your message. Gu Xia, Auntie sincerely wants to advise you—you and Old Fourth really aren’t suited. If he doesn’t come out in half an hour, you should go back.”
Gu Xia didn’t say anything, just stood alone by the gate, waiting.
While waiting, Gu Xia also wondered: if Lu Shaoting really abandoned her, what should she do?
What conditions could she propose to ensure her parents and sister could leave the northwest smoothly?
Money? How much would be enough?
Just as she was thinking, Lu Shaoting arrived from outside.
A car horn sounded as a military jeep drove through the gate of the military family compound.
Sitting in the back seat, Lu Shaoting spotted Gu Xia standing by the gate at a glance.
He had the driver stop and rolled down the window.
Looking at Gu Xia, his voice was cold and distant, even tinged with anger.
“Gu Xia, who told you to come here?”
Hearing Lu Shaoting’s voice, Gu Xia immediately looked up, her eyes still wet with tears.
She stared at Lu Shaoting.
He spoke directly, “You didn’t come looking for me, you gave me no news at all. I called you, but you didn’t answer. You’re deceiving me—why are you lying to me?”
“Lying to you?” Lu Shaoting sneered. “And what about you? Haven’t you lied to me too?”
Lu Shaoting got out of the car and told the driver to leave.
Gu Xia’s expression froze on her face as she suddenly understood something.
So Lu Shaoting just wanted revenge on her.
Because she had deceived him first.
Everything he was doing now was deliberate—he wanted to deceive her right back.